Girl Crush Alert: How Sophia Bush Is Using Her Voice to Make a Difference

Not only is Sophia Bush gorgeous and credited for playing one of our favorite CW characters (i.e., Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill), she's also got the brains to match her beauty. Hot on the heels of hosting VH1's Do Something Awards this month, she's already partnered with mega chain Target on a program to financially aid schools across the country. Along with other celebrity ambassadors such as La La Anthony and Gabby Douglass, Bush is one of the spokespersons for Give With Target, an initiative to raise up to five million dollars for school funding. See how you can get involved here.

Only a couple of hours after the program kicked off yesterday, Bush dropped by our office (dripping in Dannijo jewels, no less) to entertain us with stories about geeking out in front of Michelle Obama, getting cast in a Passion Pit video, and how she used Brooke's voice to help young women.

How did you connect with Target on this project?

I was joking a couple of months ago saying, "If I had millions of dollars, I would just be working on education in America." Then, a group of us were having dinner for Lauren Bush Lauren's FEED launch with Target, and I was talking about education. One of the creatives from the office was like, "Do you know what we do in September? We give away millions of dollars." It was sort of a perfect thing. Target commits five percent of its profits to charity every year.

What was your favorite part of high school?

I was such a nerd. My senior year I petitioned my headmaster to let me take two AP English classes at the same time and not take math. Suddenly, I was reading four books a week and writing double the papers, and I had never been happier. I had the most incredible English and literature teachers in school, and it really influenced my love of storytelling. It's what made me excited to study journalism in college. I love editorials and documentaries. All of that came from being given the opportunity to lose myself in good writing when I was a kid.

You have said that your first role in a school play led you to a career in acting.

That was quite a happy accident. It was jarring for my parents when I came home and said, "So, you know how I was planning on going to medical school? Well, I think I'm going to do [this instead]." My mom and dad thought I'd get bored in a year. It all worked out okay.

What was it like then to go back and play a character on 'One Tree Hill' who was in high school?

We started shooting that show two weeks after my 21st birthday. I was in college, so it really didn't seem that far off. By the time we were finished, we were telling stories that were much closer to who we all were as adults. It was a really nice evolution: Our characters got to grow up on that show, and we got to grow up on that set, together.

How was your high-school self different from your character Brooke's high-school persona?

Pretty different! There was a great line, when Brooke was defending some sort of intuition she'd had, she said: "I'm not book-smart, but I'm Brooke-smart!" I was coming in as the all-AP-class kid in high school, so—not so much.

What about in terms of your relationships?

A struggle that I really valued being able to highlight was where she stood in terms of validation, men, and attention. My parents raised me not to focus on it, and I also went to an all-girls school. Brooke was a girl who didn't get love at home and found validation in hooking up with guys. I never experienced that–and I'm grateful that I didn't—but I'm also grateful that it's a conversation I've gotten to have with girls. It's not an easy subject: Teenage kids having sex is not something people want to talk about. Even I felt so uncomfortable; I didn't want to set that example for young women! But it wound up being really great to lift the veil and have a platform to be honest with women.

Well, you and Brooke definitely have a love for fashion in common. What NYFW shows are you excited about this season?

I'm so enamored with people's vision, and also how different they can be. You can watch Rodarte, Narciso [Rodriguez], and Calvin Klein, and then go from Rebecca Taylor to Altuzarra—there's this incredible mix of so many beautiful brands and incredible aesthetics. There's something about fashion–whether we're talking about couture or high-street–that enables women to decide, "What woman do I want to be today? Do I feel very androgynous and menswear-inspired, or am I vibing on this sort of summery, bohemian thing?" It gives us room to be fluid in our mood and our identity. So I'm always really excited to see what everyone is doing.

The biggest. Those are my girls! And it's fun—we all kind of fan-girled each other.

If you weren't an actress, what would you do?

I mean, who doesn't secretly want to be a musician and make music like Johnnyswim or The Lumineers and just play the guitar acoustically all day? But if I wasn't an actor, I'd probably be working in journalism.

What would you want to write about?

Current events: issue-based, expository things happening in the world. Some are hard, some are uplifting, some are really inspiring. I love that whole space. I just spoke at a conference for 1,500 young people about what it means to be a global citizen—to hold a passport that gives you entry into every country in the world. That's a luxury we have now. If it were my job to run around and explore that, I would be pretty excited.

Going back to music, we saw you were in Passion Pit's video for "Carried Away." How did you land that role?

We made the connection years ago when I put together a benefit album for the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon Bill to raise money, and the first three bands that committed were the Black Keys, Passion Pit, and Damien Rice. [Later], a friend of mine who's a great producer called, and asked if I wanted to be in Michael's next video. And I was like, "What are you saying?!" It was just magic—so much fun. We were all at Coachella at one point, watching this band. I was standing with my boyfriend, and Michael was standing there with his wife, and I thought, "This is a pretty weird moment for me: I'm hanging out with my friend, but my friend happens to be the lead singer of one of my favorite bands." There are moments when I think, "My job is so weird and cool!"

What happened when you met Michelle Obama at the Inaugural ball this year?

I just froze. I died. I've met [the President] once before, and I've worked with them on a few things, but I hadn't met Michelle. [When I was introduced to] the First Lady, she said, "Well, look at you with your bangs! You know I'm just trying to be you!" And pointed to my bangs and back at her face. And then I died. And I realized I was just staring at her. I think I actually audibly said, "I love you." And then I realized I was being awkward, and I turned around and walked away. Some Secret Service person was going to be like, "You're having a seizure, you have to go." It was a pretty great compliment.

Would you ever want to work in politics?

I would like to work on policy, but I find politics to be incredibly frustrating and slow-moving, and all of that bureaucracy and red tape just makes me crazy. I would be the first one to show up and just start yelling, "This is ridiculous!" I don't know if that would be the thing [to do]. I'd sort of prefer to affect it, outside in. We'll see—who knows. Ask me in ten years!